Today I chose Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale for Day 4. This is a nice, understated beer—I didn’t notice the spiceness that’s prevalent with other holiday beers. Clear, sweet and hoppy, it packs a respectable (though not excessively high) alcohol (by volume) of 6%. Their website gives serving suggestions:

Roast goose, smoked turkey with oyster dressing, rack of lamb, candied yams, Smithfield hams, fresh pears and apples, Christmas cake. Serve in crystal tumblers or traditional Yorkshire nonik pint glasses.

Sounds like quite the Christmas meal! This is definitely a worthwhile beer to drink while the snow is falling.

It scored 83 out of a hundred on BeerAdvocate, with 92% of reviewers giving it a thumbs-up. The only thing I’d watch out for is the clear bottle—stored improperly, beer in clear bottles can skunk quickly. (Some of the reviews on BeerAdvocate mentioned skunkiness and the clear glass, which prompted me to mention it.) So this gives you an excuse to buy a bunch at a time—to rescue them from the market and store them properly in your pantry :).